🐝 The wasps are everywhere. Here’s why.

🚲 Take a Bike Tour Through Indigenous History: This Sunday, the Brazen Dropouts will lead a 22-mile bike tour that will pass all five installations in the Teejop Community Art Project. One of the artists involved in the project, Melanie Tallmadge Sainz, came on the City Cast Madison podcast to talk about her piece in the UW Arboretum. [Madison365, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

💪 Is This the Buffest Mayoral Race Ever? If current trends hold, not only will the 2027 Madison mayoral race have a lot of choices, but it may be the most physically fit slate of candidates ever. Joining boxing trainer Marcus Robert Johnson and Monkey Bar Gym founder Jonny Hinds is yoga instructor and performance artist Natalia Hacerola, who became the ninth candidate in the race this week. [🔒WSJ]

🧁 Family Behind Monona Bakery Sells To New Owners: Known for Honduran and Mexican treats in addition to American-style breakfast, Monona Bakery & Eatery is changing owners after nine years. The family who runs the bakery announced they are selling, and that they will pass along their recipes to the new owners. [🔒WSJ]

💻 Epic Uses AI Tool to Thwart Hackers: The Verona-based healthcare software company used an AI tool to find and mend vulnerabilities that could have exposed patient health records to bad actors, chief executive Judith Faulkner said. The tool found hackers could access data undetected, but couldn’t determine if those intruders could change records. [WPR]

🏘️ Madison Ahead of Schedule on New Housing: With 2026 coming to a close, Madison has already built more new homes than in all of 2025, city officials said. The city’s Housing Tracker shows 2,424 net new homes this year, compared to 2,328 last year. The city’s goal is to build 15,000 new homes by 2030, and it is almost a third of the way there. [City of Madison]

💰Could Men’s Shelter Finally Operate 24/7? In her proposed 2027 operating budget, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway wants to put an extra $1 million towards the men’s shelter on Bartillon Drive to keep it open 24 hours a day. Round-the-clock service was the original goal of the shelter, but because of a funding shortfall, it is currently only open overnight. [WMTV]

🐝 Ouch! Why Do the Wasps Seem So Angry? If you think wasps have been especially pesky this fall, you’re not imagining things. Scientists say our wet spring proved to be an ideal nesting ground for wasp queens, allowing their colonies to thrive. [WMTV]

• 🎧 Don’t get stung! We talk about what’s driving the wasp-pocalypse on the City Cast Madison podcast today, but it’s in our bonus segment exclusively for members. Don’t miss out – become a City Cast Madison Neighbor today and listen in. (Maybe you can even use your exclusive Neighbors dad hat to swat away the little pests.)

Meet Cooper, a border collie mix who is full of energy! He loves the snow (as you can see!), hiking local trails, doggy daycare, cuddles, and being with his favorite people. He's six, but we are often asked if he is a puppy because he is just *that* full of energy.

He also has a talent for seeking out non-dog people— he knows how to find the person in the room who is least interested in him and he's pretty good at convincing people to love him.